International Film Festival in Balboa Park: How to Festival
Article by Rebecca Romani
One of the great things about summer in San Diego is the ability to move a variety of activities, such as film screenings, outdoors after dark. This summer, one of the most diverse, family-oriented screenings is being held every Thursday in July, at the Organ Pavilion on Balboa Park. Organized by the Pacific Arts Movement in collaboration with San Diego Latino Film Festival / Media Arts Center and The San Diego Italian Film Festival, the screenings are part of the Centennial Celebration of Balboa Park. Most of the screenings include family-oriented events as well as drawings for movie tickets and other prizes.
Viewers will want to come at least 15 minutes before the scheduled screening time of around 8 pm in order to get good seats. The best seats are in the front of the temporary screen and slightly away from the sound system. The best parking is the lot behind the Speckles Organ Pavilion.
The festival kicked off its first screening on July 9 with “Bollywood, The Greatest Love Story Ever Told,” presented by the Pacific Arts Movement, the group that runs the annual San Diego Asian Film Festival, now in its 16th year.
In keeping with the film’s theme, Gloria Lanuza entertained the waiting crowd with an energetic Bollywood-style dance.
“Bollywood” is a visually beautiful documentary about the Bollywood (Hindi) Cinema industry in India. Directed by Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra and Jeff Zimbalist and told in segments, the film looks at Bollywood’s development from both historical and cultural periods with commentary by Aishwarya Rai, Amitabh Bachchan, Madhuri Dixit, Katrina Kaif, among others. Visually the film is beautiful and the dance sequences striking, but it is more of an insider’s short hand look at the Bollywood film industry. Actors are unidentified, the timeline is not clear, the context for certain historical events is missing and essential elements like the background singers, themselves important icons in their own right, are completely ignored.
However, from a purely entertainment, summer fare point of view, watching a film outdoors is a lot of fun. And if you bring snacks and a blanket, so much the better!
On schedule for Thursday, July 16, is the Spanish documentary, “Messi” by Álex De La Iglesia, about the life of Argentine soccer sensation, Lionel Messi. The film is being presented by the San Diego Latino Film Festival (SDLFF), now on its 22nd year.
According to Ethan Van Thillo, the festival’s Executive Director, the SDLFF is very excited to be collaborating on the summer film festival. Van Thillo said they chose “Messi” because it was hugely popular at this year’s festival,” with two sold out shows.
Thursday’s viewers will get to participate in a number of family oriented activities such as freestyle soccer activities with the chance to win a Messi soccer jersey.
Van Thillo advised interested viewers to come early, about 7 pm, as they anticipate a good turnout.
The San Diego Italian Film Festival is curating the third Thursday, July 23, programming in “The Italian Character (Il carratere italiano).” Directed by Angelo Bozzolini, who was director in residence with the festival last year, the documentary follows the ups and downs of Rome’s Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia According to Victor Laruccia, Executive Director of the SDIFF, the film provides unique insights into the creativity and passion of the Orchestra, “both very Italian characteristics,” said Laruccia. The youngest of all three festivals, the SDIFF will be celebrating its 10th anniversary this year.
The last Thursday of the summer festival will be a collection of shorts from all three festivals. Among the shorts scheduled are “Bellybutton Broth,” a charming and slightly twisted tale of how tortellini came to be and “Living Quechua,” a moving documentary about reviving and preserving the Quechua language in New York City.
For more information about the films, please see the Pacific Arts Movement website, http://pacarts.org/outdoor-international-film-series/.
